The year is 1995. After graduating from high school, the young [[ButtMonkey Kaiji Itou]] has moved to Tokyo in hopes of finding a steady job. Two years later, he's still [[{{NEET}} unemployed]] and in a state of depression. Kaiji wastes what little money he has on cheap gambles, alcohol and cigarettes on a daily basis. To feel better about himself, he sabotages expensive cars and collects their emblems. One of these cars belongs to Yuuji Endou, a {{yakuza}} with ties to the financial empire Teiai Corporation.

It turns out that Endou has been searching for Kaiji for a while, ever since he co-signed a contract for his friend Furuhata, which left him with a large debt. Endou also wants Kaiji to compensate for the car's damages. Kaiji is left with a choice; he must either spend 10 years [[WorkOffTheDebt working off the debt]] in a labour camp, or board a gambling cruise called "Espoir" (French for "hope") where he will be able to pay off the debt in one night... If he wins.

And that's just how the first series begins. ''Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji'' is probably the most famous work of Nobuyuki Fukumoto, a {{seinen}} {{mangaka}}. Starting in 1996, it has since then received critical acclaim for its ridiculous yet brilliant gambles as well as the complex psychological analyses of the characters. There are currently five series, the first two of which have gotten anime adaptations by Creator/{{Madhouse}} (much like ''Manga/{{Akagi}}'' before it), and eventually LiveActionAdaptation films and pachinko games. Kaiji also makes an appearance in ''Girls RPG Cinderellife'', a dating sim by {{Level 5}}, for UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS. As of November 2016, the fifth series is ongoing at 12 volumes.

----!!This series provides examples of:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:The series in general]]* AbsurdlyHighStakesGame: The Manga.* AesopAmnesia: By the end of season 1 Kaiji seems to have learned his lesson about hard work and not trusting life to give you what you want. When we see him again at the start of season 2, he's back to the lousy deadbeat gambler he was at the beginning. Justified in that a year has passed since the end of the first season.** End of season 2 - [[spoiler:in the day it takes him to meet the 45ers after they're free, he manages to blow his entire cut of the winnings on Pachinko.]]* AllOrNothing: The show. Kaiji almost always tries to play it safe, but is eventually forced to play it all in order to win.* ArtStyleDissonance: A slight version. Looking at the exaggerated artwork, overdramatic facial expressions and ridiculously high-stakes gambles, one could easily assume that this series is partly comedy. In reality there is almost no comedy to be found in ''Kaiji'', and those high-stakes gambles are played ''completely seriously'', making for one of the tensest and suspenseful manga of all time.* BadBoss: Hyoudou. If you work for him and if you do anything he doesn't like, he'll do various bad things to you. He also puts his bare feet in a tub filled with wine and makes his workers drink out of it. Once, a worker started speaking during this, but Hyoudou said he didn't appreciate his tone of voice, and had him taken away. It's anyone's guess as to what happened to him, but it was without a doubt very bad.* BeamOfEnlightenment* CheatersNeverProsper: Most of them do (or did).* ChekhovsGun: In the third series, Kaiji sees a poster which he dismisses offhand, only to be used later for his victory.** Marking of the cards during the Rock-Paper-Scissors game ends up being a crucial strategy in E-card.* ChewingTheScenery: The narrator.* ChromosomeCasting: No female characters.* CombatCommentator* ConspicuousCG: The ship and its main hall. The "inside" of the Bog in season 2.* CrapsackWorld* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Kaiji may only seem dumb, but the mental gymnastics he does so frequently cement him as this. * EvenEvilHasStandards: While members of Teiai Corporation resort to all sorts of cheating and [[MovingTheGoalposts goalpost moving]], they never outright refuse giving a well-earned prize, even considering the implication that they can just easily eliminate the participant without paying anything if they really want to do so.* EvilRedhead: Kitami, Ichijou (anime only, as he has black hair in the manga) and Kazuya.* FatBastard: [[spoiler:Andou]] and Otsuki.* {{Fingore}}: [[spoiler:Kaiji loses 4 of his left-hand fingers when his Tissue Box raffle goes horribly wrong. They manage to stitch them back later though.]]** A less gory but still very painful example is provided by [[spoiler:Ichijou]] to Kaiji in series 2.* TheGamblingAddict: It is hinted by Hyoudou that Kaiji is slowly turning into one, one who can only feel alive while gambling no matter how high the stakes. Hyoudou himself is this, so much that his "brain has been fried" and the only things that can give him any joy in life are the most extreme and twisted gambles. He foresees the same future for Kaiji, but he is yet to be proven right... or wrong.* GambitRoulette: Kaiji's plan to beat the bog at the end of Season 2 relies on a series of convoluted {{plan}}s. But Kaiji and Ichijo both DidntSeeThatComing so many times, it turns into a Roulette that would ''almost'' look like XanatosSpeedChess if it weren't for the fact that Kaiji can't change '''anything''' after he starts playing.** The very same bog machine is one, it has too many traps, counter contingencies, and last hour reveals to be true* GeniusThriller: Kaiji solves all sorts of problems (often problems which involve him owing money to Yakuza) by being a gambling genius.* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Most of the cheaters in the series fall victim to this. Key word being ''[[KarmaHoudini most]]'' of them.** Notably, [[spoiler: at the end of series 1, ''Kaiji himself'' loses in the one game he tries to rig.]]* HopeSpot: Constantly. Especially in the Pachinko Arc.* IdiotBall: Kaiji gets this occasionally; by halfway through the second episode, he has already fallen for two {{Obvious Trap}}s, leaving him in what seems to be an {{Unwinnable}} situation and requiring him to struggle for an entire arc just to try to restore the status quo.* InelegantBlubbering: Occasionally, as opposed to the more frequent CryCute.* LargeHam: The narrator.* ManlyTears: [[LampshadeHanging The fansubs even lampshade this.]] * [[MenDontCry "Real" Men Don't Cry:]] [[AvertedTrope Oh the HELL they don't!]] Even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the anime opening.* MovingTheGoalposts: The bad guys aren't really interested in having a fair game, they just want to see the underdogs suffer. Thus they will resort to this tactic as necessary.* MundaneMadeAwesome: Kaiji goes up against a pimped-out pachinko machine in the second series.* {{Narrator}}* NiceGuy: Kaiji. Among other things he cries frequently, he doesn't want others to get hurt (even if said person was ready to send him to a painful death), he doesn't want people to relinquish their humanity, he values friendship, he's (obviously) sympathetic towards the poor and desperate, he wants to help everyone he can and is willing to put his life on the line for it, and he '''HATES''' injustice. Ironically (and arguably) the only person who genuinely appreciates all this aside from Ishida is one of the Teiai black suits at the end of Season/Part 2.** Mario and Chang also grow to appreciate Kaiji for the things he's done for them, [[spoiler: and later pay him back by putting their lives on the line for him]].* OhCrap: This anime [[UpToEleven IS THIS TROPE.]]* RiggedContest: [[spoiler:E-Card]], the tissue box lottery, [[spoiler:Hell Cee-lo]], the Man-Eating Bog and Minefield Mahjong are all rigged in different ways.** Kazuya's game seem this way initially, but they have their tricks. The Survival Game would be definitely winnable with ease, but Kazuya does ''everything in his power'' to turn the three friends against each other, from things like preventing someone from leaving their seat on time to purposely messing with the helmet lights. Mother Sophie is actually 100% fair however- [[spoiler: it turns out that both Kaiji and Kazuya can cheat equally (he just never told Kaiji), and once Kaiji figures this out the tables turn instantly.]]* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Nothing that destructive, but Kaiji beats up [[spoiler: Furuhata and Andou after he manages to get his hands on them after they've betrayed him, and much later he beats up Maeda and Miyoshi (who have betrayed him) when they try to restrain him from catching Muraoka on the act of cheating.]]* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: The people Kaiji are up against have enough money and influence as to be practically untouchable.** ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: The reason why Kaiji is awesome.* SeriousBusiness: The main appeal of this series is arguably the ridiculously high stakes put on the simplest of gambles.* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The worldview of people Kaiji goes up against is basically that we live on a very materialistic dog eat dog world, and that the only people worth giving a damn about are the ones who became materially successful- no matter if they've killed, tortured or otherwise ruined dozens. Money is the only important thing in life, and all means are justified as long as the end is getting loads of money. It is also meaningless to trust other people, as only cowards do that and those people will betray you the first chance they get anyway. Kaiji's worldview starts out more or less the same, but his concealed beliefs about the worth of humanity, trust and decency quickly gain the upper hand and a humanist view starts to settle in and remains there despite going through things that confirm the cynical vision. Conversely, things Kaiji does (and on rare occasion things others do to him) confirm his own view.* SmokingIsCool: This is a given, since the series is about gambling and {{Yakuza}}.* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Manga/GamblingEmperorLegendZero''.* StockVisualMetaphors: Often about drowning, jumping over a canyon or the GrimReaper.* TrappedByGamblingDebts* TraumaCongaLine: Several characters, but special note goes to the Asian Three's extended torture session that is the Survival Game.* UnsoundEffect: ZAWA, the sound of dramatic tension.* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Played straight much of the time. Occasionally, Kaiji will seem to explain his plan, but will only explain the first and less important half; [[spoiler:in these cases, the entire plan is guaranteed to work fine. Played painfully straight in the Tissue Box Raffle arc, though, when Kaiji explains his entire grand scheme four whole episodes before the end of the series, [[DeconstructedTrope which naturally falls apart and leaves him ruined]].]]* VillainousBreakdown: Everytime Kaiji wins. Witnessing them is particularly satisfying since he's generally up against arrogant bastards. [[spoiler: Muraoka's breakdown, for example, seems to drive him completely insane.]]* WhamShot: A shit ton given the nature of the story. Some notable examples include:** [[spoiler: Andou turning against Kaiji, silently condemning him to death.]]** [[spoiler: The pachinko balls on the third plate of The Bog finally spilling into the hole, giving Kaiji and his allies the Jackpot.]]** At one point during One Poker, Kaiji has to make a difficult decision: either use his Ace and risk it all for the chance of beating Kazuya's potential King, or play his ''own'' King and play it safe. [[spoiler: Kaiji plays the King, comparing it to using a tank to crush Kazuya with overheming force... before revealing that Kazuya has an "attack helicopter". AKA, Kazuya somehow has an ace ''of his own'', something that should be almost impossible, and has basically killed Kaiji.]]*** Kaiji whipping around to see that he's been saved by [[spoiler: Chang and Mario betting their own lives for him]].* {{Yakuza}}* YaoiFangirl: ''Kaiji'', ''Manga/{{Akagi}}'', and many other series by Fukumoto Nobuyuki have surprisingly large female fanbases. Put that together with an almost complete lack of female characters and this happens, apparently.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Part I]]* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: Kaiji hopes that the {{Yakuza}} don't [[spoiler:come to collect on his debt after the first arc. [[CaptainObvious They do]], and he's forced to gamble again]].* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [[spoiler:Andou betrays Kaiji twice, and he's in the story for fewer than four hours in-universe. Tonegawa has something more along the lines of Chronic Frontstabbing Disorder]].* CoolBoat: Espoir: a luxurious floating gambler den that toots in a majestic manner at the end of each episode.* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler: Tonegawa... okay, he doesn't die, but there was a lot of irony in how he loses the e-card game.]] * DownerEnding: [[spoiler:All the named participants to the Human Derby are dead, Kaiji survives but has lost all of his money (and is further in debt), along with his left ear and left hand fingers. Meanwhile, the villain has won money, and has been entertained throughout the night.]]* EarAche: [[spoiler:In the E-Card game, when a drill is fastened to Kaiji's ear. Kaiji is forced to bet a certain number of millimeters, if he loses a round the drill advances this number of millimeters (and the sound of it apparently causes Kaiji great pain), and if it advances thirty millimeters it will pierce his eardrum (and we get several {{Imagine Spot}}s of this actually happening). But wait, it gets worse! Eventually Kaiji bets ''more'' then thirty millimeters, thus risking that the drill will destroy his inner ear and possibly cause him an agonizing death. And then he ''cuts off his ear with a shard of glass'' to take the device off.]]* EyeScream: [[spoiler:In the E-Card game, Kaiji gets to choose between putting his ear or eye on the line. Averted when he picks his ear, but we are still treated to some nice {{Imagine Spot}}s with the mini-drill moving closer to his eyeball.]]* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: [[spoiler:Arguably how Tonegawa is defeated; by being too careful.]]* InASingleBound: Sahara's leap in episode 14 is at least presented this way.* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Hyoudou escapes unscathed at the end of series 1.]]* KickTheSonOfABitch: Viciously subverted. [[spoiler: Tonegawa is forced to kneel on a burning plate for ten seconds after losing to Kaiji. Despite him being responsible for the deaths of nine people, and the majority of the events of the series up until this point, his torture is so cruel that it isn't satisfying in the slightest. Rather, it comes off as horrifying. Even Kaiji, who despised him, starts crying at the sight of it.]]* LostHimInACardGame: A good reason to avoid being sent to the Other Room on the ''Espoir''.* TheManBehindTheMan: Hyoudou (whose name isn't even revealed until the very last episode) is the man behind Tonegawa.* MeaningfulName: The ship at the beginning of the series is called ''Espoir'', which is the French word for hope.* PoorPredictableRock: [[PlayingWithATrope Somethingverted]] in the first arc; it could be described as anything from PlayedStraight to [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]].* PoseOfSupplication: Done when [[spoiler:Tonegawa is forced to do this on a ''burning hot iron plate'' to beg forgiveness from Hyoudou for failing him after losing to Kaiji]].* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: During the second half of the Human Derby arc, [[TheDragon Tonegawa]] delivers these at least OnceAnEpisode.* RockPaperScissors: They play RockPaperScissors in this story. With cards. You'll end up wondering "did I just spend a few hours seeing grown men play RockPaperScissors?". Yes you did. And you liked it. * VillainHasAPoint: Yukio Tonegawa's speech on value of money, and how unrealistic it is to expect a huge prize without putting a lot of work into it and placing your life on the line in the process.* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:Tonegawa's]] fate is unclear at this point. Seeing as how [[spoiler:Kurosaki]] has replaced him by series 2, it's probably safe to assume that, at the very least, he was demoted to a lower rank in Teiai.* YankTheDogsChain: Series 1 plays this brutally with [[spoiler:Sahara's death. After making his way across the bridge of death, he finally prepares to open the door to cash in on the price money... Only to be blown off the building by the air compression blast from the window towards a certain death.]][[/folder]]

[[folder:Part II]]* {{Beergasm}}: Given that Kaiji's now slaving away in an underground hell-hole where only the bare necessities are provided, it's no wonder that the first over-priced beer they sell to workers there gives him a {{Beergasm}} when he gets one after such a long time.* TheCameo: [[Manga/StrongestLegendKurosawa Kurosawa]] is seen in the opening and [[Manga/GamblingEmperorLegendZero Zero]] in the very last episode.* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Sort of, Kaiji finally pays of his debt and even earned more money than he needed; however, Endou's contract drains him of a huge chunk of cash and he blows the rest on pachinko trying to earn some of it back.]]* GaussianGirl: In the anime, curiously enough. Each episode has a "Proverbs of Kaiji" {{stinger}} after the ending credits: a short piece of live-cation video where a GaussianGirl recites one of Kaiji's lines from the corresponding episode in a "deep and philosophical" manner.* JumpedAtTheCall: Kaiji at the start of series 2 - to the point where it could almost be said that [[InvertedTrope he knows]] [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive where the Call lives]].* KansasCityShuffle: A ploy Kaiji uses as part of his scheme to defeat the Bog. [[spoiler: Sakazaki trashes the Bog, damaging the flippers so that they will have to be replaced, when Kaiji has rigged the replacement flippers to fail. However, in order to make it less obvious, Kaiji launches a futile attempt to break into Ichijou's office while the Bog is being trashed, making it seem like that was the point of the entire ploy. It works beautifully.]]* LockedIntoStrangeness: [[spoiler:Kaiji's hair appears to turn white once he's out of money at the end of episode 24. It might be a StockVisualMetaphor.]]* LuckBasedMission: A rare non-game example. DoubleSubverted. Kaiji decides to take on "The Bog", a notorious pachinko machine. There is no luck involved in playing the Bog, because [[RiggedContest it's rigged to be impossible]]. [[spoiler: Kaiji must use his wits to create artificial circumstances that will LEAD to his victory. But because he constantly [[DidntSeeThatComing doesn't see it coming]], the game goes back to simply being a LuckBasedMission, except in the end everything he and Ichijou did end up tipping the odds to his favor.]]* MetalScream: Opens the OP.* MoodWhiplash: In episode 10, when Sakazaki is talking about his daughter, Mikoko, the initially serious atmosphere prevalent throughout the series suddenly (and briefly) shifts to a comedic one. Doubles as a CrowningMomentOfFunny.** "''[[MemeticMutation Mikoko, you're so pretty!]]''"* PetTheDog: At the end of season 2, one of the black suits gives a broke Kaiji a few thousand yen to meet his fellow 45ers. Mind you, this was after [[spoiler: Kaiji blew what was left of his pachinko earnings on ''pachinko'']].* ShoutOut: At one point in the second season, Kaiji stays with Sakazaki and [[spoiler:Endou]] for a night at Hotel Manga/{{Akagi}}.* WhamEpisode: The end of the second season isn't just '''a''' wham episode. It's a ''series'' of wham episodes!* WorkOffTheDebt* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: [[spoiler: End of season 2 - after Kaiji's finally defeated the Bog and become rich, it turns out he didn't read the fine print in Endou's contract...]][[/folder]]

[[folder:Part III]]* ChekhovsSkill: Kaiji's reactionary gambling style is referred to by Kazuya as a tsunami. Kaiji dismisses the notion at first but invokes the metaphor again when in doubt.* TheCynic: Despite being the son of a very wealthy and influential man, Kazuya has reasons to be unhappy and dissatisfied with life, arguably rightfully so. His ways of coping with his cynicism are anything but acceptable though.* DynamicEntry: When one of Muraoka's men tries to hold Kaiji outside of the game room by restraining the door to give his boss more time to cheat, Kaiji manages to open the door enough to punch him in the face go in.* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Muraoka Takashi, better known as The President.* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Miyoshi and Maeda, but it's justified; see WellIntentionedExtremist below.]]* GiantSpider: In a StockVisualMetaphor. Eek.* GigglingVillain: Muraoka. Kazuya to a lesser extent.* ItsAllAboutMe: Muraoka IS this trope. Crowned as such especially with his reaction to when he's faced with the possibility of losing all his money to Kaiji (compared to him losing his life).* LikeFatherLikeSon: [[spoiler: Kazuya has taken quite a bit after Hyoudou. At the very least both are rich bastards who enjoy seeing weak people suffer and have a complete disregard for human life and friendship. Despite all that they ironically both are very fair people when it comes to resolving the outcome of a gamble.]]* {{Mahjong}}: The entire third part focuses on this game, but it's a two-player variant.* NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: Kaiji is fully aware that his tiles were peeked on at one point, but has no actual proof and is forced to continue the game. [[spoiler:Which is exactly what he wanted, and he invokes this himself later when he bursts back into the room and initiates a plan to prove that Muroka is peeking his tiles.]]* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler:In series 2, the Bog payed out 700 million yen, and Kaiji split it with Sakazaki and Endou. When Muraoka tells Miyoshi and Maeda about this, he tells them to "test" Kaiji by asking for his help and seeing how he responds after they add that he can profit from it. Because Kaiji denied their request at first and accepted it only when they offered money, they thought Kaiji had been using and holding out on them and the other 45'ers. As such, they decided to scam him out of money. Had Kaiji not been too proud to admit that he didn't beat the Bog alone, none of this would have happened.]]* SoreLoser: [[spoiler:Muraoka, so much that even Kazuya can't believe it.]]* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Miyoshi and Maeda did not betray Kaiji just because they could; [[PoorCommunicationKills due to a misunderstanding]], they thought ''he'' had betrayed ''them''.]]** [[spoiler:...which still doesn't excuse how willing they were to completely ruin the life of the man to whom they owe their lives because of a ''money'' issue after a couple convincing words by Muraoka, without first extensively questioning Kaiji and ascertaining for sure whether or not he really had money or not. Had Maeda and Miyoshi's scheme succeeded, Kaiji would at ''best'' return to the Teiai underground mines for the rest of his life, and if not he would have been cut up to pieces on Kazuya's order.]][[/folder]]

[[folder:Part IV]]* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: [[spoiler:Kazuya]] is revealed to be the "boss" character in the story.* BreakThemByTalking: Kaiji keeps expecting Kazuya to do this to the three playing the Salvation Game. [[spoiler: In reality, Kazuya is doing this to Kaiji, trying to break his optimism. It almost works, but Kaiji's good nature pulls through in the end and he saves Mario and Chang.]]* BreatherEpisode: The story that Kaiji reads, and the Salvation Game in general since Kaiji never actually places a wager, and isn't required to risk his Mahjong winnings.* EccentricMillionaire: Kazuya puts on these ridiculously expensive murder games as inspiration for his novels. * EverybodyLives: [[spoiler:What the ending of this gamble is, suprisingly. Mario and Chang are sentenced to death, and Kaiji spends his own money in an attempt to save them to the surprise of literally everyone that was in the room (including ''hinself''). This proves Kazuya's ideologies about the world wrong and infuriates him. ]]* EveryoneHasStandards: Kaiji realises that no matter what, he can't do nothing if [[spoiler: people are dying, and he can save them.]]* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Kazuya is completely unable to understand why [[spoiler:Kaiji could sacrifice his own money to save Chang and Mario.]]* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Kaiji believes that [[spoiler:Mitsuyama]] has gone mad and can be snapped out of it. [[spoiler: He can't.]]* GraveMarkingScene: Kaiji is taken to a cemetary at the start of the series by Kazuya to visit his own grave - telling Kaiji that this gamble will end with him rich or dead.* HeroicBSOD: Kaiji has this towards the end of the Salvation Game when he's asked to spend his own money to save people. [[spoiler: Kaiji realizes to his initial horror that he can't, but the crushing guilt eventually causes him to do the right thing. ]]* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Mitsuyama, Mario, and Chang all believe that Kazuya is an amazing person for giving them the opportunity to win all this money. At least at first.* HumansAreBastards: Kazuya wants to prove that the Salvation Game will never be won, because people will always betray each other. [[spoiler:And then that Kaiji won't spend his money to save people he's never met before tonight]].* Hypocrite: Kazuya keeps talking about how grateful he would be to see an actual selfless act during his games. And yet when [[spoiler:Mario]] saves everyone in the 14th Round he comes up with excuses to explain it away.** [[spoiler:He completely loses it when Kaiji saves Mario and Chang even though there's no benefit to Kaiji for doing so.]]* InsaneTrollLogic: Kazuya basically says this when [[spoiler:Mitsuyama]] tries to explain his logic for betrayal, noting that he's frantically trying to explain away his own greed.* KarmaHoudini: Kazuya is revealed to have killed dozens of people in his life-or-death gambles, and has suffered no penalty for this. [[spoiler: It won't be until Part V that he finally receives his comuppance.]]** [[spoiler: Mitsuyama also gets his winnings for betraying everyone at the end, and leaves unhindered]]* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Kazuya believes this.* PoorCommunicationKills: The trick to the Salvation Game is this, as contestants are prohibited from talking to each other, causing small misunderstandings to gradually pile up.** And then subverted when [[spoiler: even with everyone explaining the situation to him, Mitsuyama refuses to save the others.]]* ShrineToTheFallen: The cemetary Kaiji is taken to is filled with those who gambled against Kazuya and died.* ShowWithinAShow: Kazuya's in-universe novel.** [[spoiler:...which turns out to be BasedOnATrueStory. Again, in-universe.]]* TheCorrupter: Kazuya's true goal with his Salvation Games is to make people give in to their dark urges.* TheCorruptible: [[spoiler:Mitsuyama]] is revealed to be this. [[spoiler:Kaiji]] is not.* TheyKnewTheRisks: Kaiji decides he can't save [[spoiler:Chang and Mario]] because they both went into this game expecting they could die. [[spoiler: He goes back on his word when he realizes that they're ''still people'', and saves them both.]]* WouldntHurtAChild: Averted. One of the people who have died gambling in Kazuya's games was only 15 years old.* WritersSuck: Subverted with Kazuya, who thinks very highly of being a writer.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Part V]]* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Chang and Mario pull this off when they agree to gamble their own lives to save Kaiji, proving that they are the TrueCompanions Kaiji hoped they would be.]]* BornLucky: Kaiji thinks this about Kazuya when he draws [[spoiler:pocket aces TWICE during the game]], and Kazuya thinks this about Kaiji since he draws a large number of [[spoiler:Kings and 2's]].** Subverted when [[spoiler: it's revealed that Kazuya is cheating.]]* CallBack: In One Poker, a 2 (the weakest card) beats an Ace (the strongest card) just like how the Slave beat the Emperor in E-Card. This is explicitly referenced.* ChekovsGun: The toothpick that Kazuya gave Kaiji comes back into play [[spoiler:to allow Kaiji to figure out how Kazuya is cheating.]]** Also the [[spoiler: crushing helmets worn by Chang and Mario in Part IV return, and are put to good use once again.]]** At the very beginning of this series, Kaiji thinks [[spoiler: Kazuya's manicure]] is out of character. This proves to be the essential trick in how [[spoiler:Kazuya manipulates Mother Sophie into allowing him to draw Aces]].* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Kaiji has already won enough money that there's no need for him to gamble against Kazuya, but he's driven to keep testing his luck and skill.** [[spoiler:Invoked again with the Red Life. After losing everything, Kaiji is then offered a continue in the form of wagering with his own life. If he loses he dies, but he is still free to walk away at this point.]]** [[spoiler: And then one final time when Kazuya is debating betting his own Red Life. Kaiji tells him exactly what he's played and that if Kazuya goes on he will lose. Kazuya does anyway. He loses.]]* ExactWords: Kazuya says that the Poker machine will deal out cards to both players randomly, it will always accurately report whether a card is in the High or the Low range, and he guarantees that the game will be fair. [[spoiler: The trick is that you can swap a card with another card as long as they're in the same range. He switches out 3 high cards for Aces during his turns. However, he views it as fair because Kaiji has the same opportunity to cheat as he does - as long as he figures out where the cards are hidden]]* FairPlayVillain: Kaiji says this about Kazuya, and the purpose of the Poker machine is to ensure that neither side can cheat.** [[spoiler: Both subverted and played straight in that Kazuya can cheat to draw an Ace at any time, but so can Kaiji - and Kazuya is the one who gave him the means to do so.]]* HiddenSupplies: [[spoiler:Both sides of the Poker machine have a secret drawer that contains three Aces.]]* InactionSequence: As the gamble goes on, entire chapters will be spent with one character debating whether or not they're going to raise or fold.** Taken to the extreme with the final round, where it takes three chapters for the machine to flip over the cards to reveal the winner.* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Literally. Figuring this out is a key aspect to surviving.* MyDefenseNeedNotProtectMeForever: When Kazuya starts losing, he deliberately concedes a few rounds so that he can build his hand back up to a threatening position.* MyLifeFlashedBeforeMyEyes: Happens to [[spoiler:Kaiji]] after he is eliminated and facing death.* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: Averted. Kaiji notes that hitting the net while falling is just as likely to break his arms as save his life.* TakeAThirdOption: Seemingly impossible in a game where you have to choose between two cards. [[spoiler: Played straight when Kaiji discovers there's a way to swap a King for an Ace.]]** [[spoiler:And then again when he decides to play his 3 instead.]]* SaveTheVillain: [[spoiler: Kaiji desperately tries to persuade Kazuya to not end his own life, but much like Washizu from Manga/Akagi, he sees it as a betrayal of gambling.]]* YouWouldDoTheSameForMe: [[spoiler: Chang and Mario BOTH go back into the crushing helmets from Part IV that will kill them if Kaiji loses in order to give Kaiji the chance to continue, saying they know he'd do the same for them.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action Movies]]* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Most of the characters look much more attractive than in the original work.* CompressedAdaptation: Story-wise, the first film is basically a mix of the first two seasons.* CreatorCameo: Fukumoto himself appears as a black suit.* CompositeCharacter: Inverted; Ishida's daughter plays part of Sakazaki's role (namely [[spoiler:The BigDamnHeroes moment from part 2]], thus effectively splitting his role.* GenderFlip: Ishida's son and Endou are both women in this adaptation.* GratuitousEnglish: Tonegawa's infamous "FUCK YOU!"* SmurfettePrinciple: See GenderFlip, above.[[/folder]]----